Starting a vegetable garden

Having vine-ripened tomatoes or fresh-picked corn can be a very fulfilling experience. Many would love to eat home grown vegetable but do not know much about the requirements of a vegetable garden. There are so many seedlings in a nursery and knowing which to take to your garden may require appropriate advice. You need to know what to plant, when to plant and how to plant it. In this case the advice of successful farmers comes in handy. rnBelow are a few instructions on how to go about your gardening: • Grow the vegetables you love eating only. A priority should be given to those with great flavor when eaten fresh from harvest; beans, young spinach, tomatoes, corn, among others. • Prepare a flat ground that gets the sun’s exposure most of the time during the day. Break the soil and add organic material and compost. A full day sun exposure is important when growing the vegetables in early fall, early spring or winter. • Assess the amount of space you have and do the planting. Tomatoes have to be spaced about 2 feet but lettuce may be grown in a solid mat. Pumpkins may be given 4 feet. Most of the growing requirements can be found on the seed packets, in books, in catalogs as well as in nursery tags. • Go for crops that need small room if your vegetable garden is small. Tomatoes can be grown in a hanging basket while lettuce may do well in a pot plant. Others that vine and climb like pole beans and cucumbers can be attached on a trellis. • Plan your plantings around two main growing seasons that vary by region; warm (summer) and cool (spring and fall). Common cold-season vegetables include broccoli, carrots, cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, peas, potatoes, beets, radishes, spinach and turnips. Warm season crops include cucumbers, melons, peppers, squash, corn, beans and tomatoes. • Sow some of the seeds directly inside the ground since they grow well that way. • Shop for the seedlings when the soil is prepared and you are about to plant. Ensure they remain moist and do not keep them out for more than 3 days. Buy healthy and strong seedlings. • Sow seeds of radishes that are colorful or giant sunflower in your vegetable garden so that you may also introduce kids to the fun and satisfaction of planting their own food.